Then I'll Smile
by Fallen Warrior Angel
Summary: A little twist on Draco's short explanation to Perseus on the Ferry to Medusa's lair. Extending the movie with a different ending.
1. Chapter 1

Draco watched as all of the children gathered around the artist sculpting the statue of the god Zeus, his eyes focusing on a small head of golden curls. He'd been asked along with some of the other officers to protect the group of children, for Andromeda, daughter of the King and Queen of Argos, was among them; but it was not the daughter of his ruler that he was watching. No, he was keeping an eye on his own daughter. The day she was born he and his wife could have sworn they had been blessed with an angel from the Heavens of Olympus itself; but sadly, no good deed goes unpunished. His wife fell ill, and it was something that none of the medical professionals in Argos could treat. The King had promised protection for her in exchanged for Draco's services in the Honour Guard, which he graciously accepted, but now his daughter fell subject to the jeering and jokes of the children who never saw her mother. He could see his six-year-old daughter's crystalline eyes watching in awe as the sculptor finished the detail of Zeus's face, the wonder in her smile made his heart soar. She was everything to him, he loved her more than anything. But how children treated her in her classes he could not help.

A young boy turned to their teacher, "Can anyone see these sculptures, sir?"

The teacher nodded, "Yes, why ever do you ask, Tyrrious?"

"Even someone who is like a ghost? Like her mother?" Tyrrious pointed at the young daughter of the Honour Guard Captain.

"My mother is not a ghost!" the young girl jumped on him, tugging at his robes and screaming as the boys hands tried to push her off.

Draco sprung into the group of children, "Valora! Valora, enough!" he grabbed his daughter around the waist and pulled her away from the group, holding her shaking body in his arms, "Sssh, sssh, it's alright, Valora. Valora, my darling look at me."

Her eyes, the color of the sea itself, stared at him with tears, "Father."

He held her close, "You cannot listen to what they say about your mother, my little goddess. There are mean children and nice children, just as there are mean people and nice people. They will make fun of you, but you do not hurt them because of what they say. Think if I worked like that, if someone were to say something about you and I hurt them, does that make them wrong and me right?"

She shook her small head, "No."

Draco smiled, his dark brown eyes twinkling, "No it doesn't, it makes both that someone wrong, and it makes me wrong. Two wrongs don't make a right, Valora. Understand?"

Valora smiled, "Yes, father."

"Good, now come, let's go home," he pressed a kiss to her forehead and they walked through the crowded streets towards the castle.

***

"Mother!" Valora ran quickly to the bedside, sitting carefully on the empty edge of the bed, her small hand covering her mother's.

"What is it my beauty?" her mother's glistening, blue eyes looked at her tiredly.

Draco stepped to the side of the bed, placing a kiss on his wife's forehead, "How are you feeling, my love?"

She smiled up at him, "A little better. I think I can actually stand."

"Oleina, do not overexert yourself," Draco hastened, putting his hand on her shoulder.

Valora nodded, "Listen to father, mother."

Oleina chuckled, "Yes, my dear."

There was a knock on the door, "Sir, madam's medicine," the nurse came in with the gold tray, his wife's usual cup of medicine sitting in the center of it.

Draco nodded, taking his daughter aside, "Come my darling, let's leave your mother to rest," he led his young daughter out of the room, her eyes casting backward at her ill mother.

***

Lightning cracked and thunder boomed outside of his window as rain poured down, his wife's cries of pain and angish rang in his ears. Draco hated when his wife was like this, he hated that she was sick, but most of all he hated the cries that came from the other bedroom in their chambers. The officer sat up, wrapping his robe around him as he headed to his daughter's room, he could see her curled up in bed, her eyes wet from crying.

"Oh Valora," Draco walked over, sitting in bed beside her, "what's wrong?"

His daughter choked out a sob, "Mother's d-d-ying isn't s-s-she?"

The officer's heart broke into a million shards at the sight of his daughter's tears; he pulled her to his chest and caressed her hair, "Mother's going to be fine, you'll see my darling. Now, move over just a bit, so I can stay here with my lovely daughter." Draco brought his legs up onto the bed, allowing his daughter to curl up beside him, resting her small head on his chest. She'd stopped crying, but he knew that she was still worried...and so was he.

***

The early morning wind that blew off of the sea was cold that day, no one was in a happy mood. Draco had awoken in his daughter's bed, Valora in his arms, yet he awoke not to the sound of his wife's calling, but the sound of the King's beckoning.

"Where is Draco?" he questioned, rushing through the hall until he burst through the door, waking Valora, "Draco..."

The officer looked down at his daughter who had been so rudely awakened by the King, but she looked up at him with a knowing look in her eye; she may only have been six, but she knew exactly what had happened, "Mother's gone, isn't she?"

Draco nodded, sadness breaking his voice, "Yes."

Valora did not cry, she did not scream; she merely got up, walked past the King with a small nod, and headed towards her mother's chamber. Draco watched as she walked up to the bed where he mother once lay, placing a small, shaky hand on the sheet, her crystalline eyes did not sparkle with wonderment or curiosity, they sparkled with something that he would have never even thought his daughter could feel: they sparkled with anguish. He was thirty years older than she and he felt anguish, but not as badly as he saw in his daughter's eyes. "Valora come away," he beckoned, he did not want to see her suffer any longer.

The young girl turned from the bed, walking slowly to her father's open embrace, which she crumpled into like a doll, "Can Hades bring her back?"

Draco shook his head, pressing his face into her hair, "No my darling, no he can't."

And for the first time all morning, both Draco and his daughter cried.

***

_10 years later_

Draco watched from afar as his daughter, now 16, stood at the edge of the ocean, her feet just covered by the incoming waves. Her long curls of gold touched her shoulder blades, she was tall, beautiful. The Queen would never admit that anyone was more beautiful than her Andromeda, but to Draco, his daughter was the most beautiful girl in Argos. He'd watched her every day for the past ten years as she came down to the water to let the tide roll over her feet; he wondered what she was thinking. Never did he dare to move closer, he wanted to give her her privacy, but sometimes he just wished he would have the nerve to walk over to her, ask her what she was thinking about, talk to her. He was always so busy with the Honour Guard that he barely got to see her. Suddenly, the sky turned dark, clouds of black rolled through the sky as a large burst of fire and ash appeared, a face staring out at him with two large, burning eyes. Draco stared in shock and horror: Hades. "VALORA!"

His daughter turned to face him, she had not yet seen the God of the Underworld, "Father?"

Draco began running to her, "VALORA RUN TO ME! RUN TO ME NOW!"

But it was too late; the God swept her up in a dark cloud, her scream of terror tore at Draco's heart, "NO!"

***

Draco snapped awake with a start; his dreams were all memories, each one ending with that same scene he'd played over and over in his head for the past four years. He stood, walking out to the front of the ferry boat that was taking him, his men, Io, and the demi-god Perseus to Medusa's lair.

Perseus walked up to him, "Who did you lose?"

Draco sighed, "My daughter. She was dragged down here to the Underworld, on her 16th birthday, as a prisoner to Hades. I have a feeling I'll see her soon," the Honour Guard leader looked ahead at the large island that was Medusa's lair; he hoped that Perseus could help him get to Hades, and get his Valora back.


	2. Chapter 2

Medusa's lair was surrounded by statues of men, of warriors who had ventured their for purposes unknown. Draco walked alongside Solon and Perseus, prepared for what was to come; yet he did not know if they would survive. He had no more reason to go on, Valora was probably long dead after being in the Underworld for almost 5 years, so what did he have to lose? Ixas and Eusebios followed close behind; they did not know much of battle, but they fought as well as he, perhaps better. Io had explained that she could not enter the lair, Medusa was forbidden to hurt another woman, but men could enter had they the courage and strength to do so. Draco did not understand what drove him to continue, perhaps it was the speech that Perseus had given them, perhaps it was the fact that these were his men, or perhaps it was the fact that he needed to help Perseus save the Princess Andromeda. All he knew was that he was walking into a death trap, and he was not afraid.

Without being able to look the creature in the eyes, they had to rely on their hearing and their speed, something, that for a man of his age, would be difficult for Draco.

"Keep your eyes on the ground!" Perseus screamed as arrows flew at them from the shadows, a large serpent tail smacked Ixas, Solon, and Eusebios over the side, and all Draco heard was the cry of Ixas's voice.

"Solon!"

Draco ran as fast as he could, keeping his eyes down, jumping over cracks and rocks, but something stopped him. A sharp pain surged through his body as he crumpled against a pillar; an arrow stuck through him like a spear. He watched as the Djin leader was killed, and he could see Perseus running from Medusa, trying to figure out a way to cut off her head as he himself broke off the two ends of the arrow, allowing him to stand and continue to help. He and Perseus were the only ones alive now, and Draco did not know if it would stay that way, for he was about to do something totally insane. Unsheathing his sword, he jumped, stabbing the blade into Medusa's tail as he rolled away, his body pulsing with pain as he stood. Medusa's scream rang through the lair as she tried to recompose herself.

The Honour Guard leader looked at Perseus, "Let them know that men did this."

But something made him look up, it was the sound of blades slicing through flesh. Soon, Medusa's body slid into the lava below, her head rolling off to the side; yet Perseus had not done this. Draco's eyes fell on the person that had, and the only thing he saw were long, curls of gold that fell to the small of the person's back. The person turned, looking at him with crystalline eyes the color of the sea, leaving Draco at a loss of words, "Valora?"

Perseus looked at the woman before him: her skin was tan from the sun, her legs and arms were tone, the dress she wore was of short, black cloth. Her hair was the color of glod, falling to the middle of her back, and her eyes were the most beautiful shade of blue he'd ever seen. Then he heard what Draco had said; Valora. If it were true, this was Draco's daughter.

Valora looked at the man she'd just saved, he looked familiar, so familiar, and he'd said her name, "Valora?"

She knew that voice; she'd grown up with that voice, "Father?"

Draco stepped forward with difficulty, but he made his way toward his daughter as if he'd never been harmed, "You're alive."

The young woman ran to him, "You found me!" she threw her arms around him, embracing him lovingly, "I thought I'd never see you again."

He sighed, "I thought I'd lost you forever. I've been searching for you for five years, Valora."

Her crystalline eyes now sparkled with tears, "Why did you come here?"

This comment made Draco snap back to reality, his gaze flashing to Perseus, who was bagging Medusa's head, "Perseus!"

The demigod looked at him, "Draco."

Valora looked at her father, "Who is this?"

"Perseus, this is my daughter, Valora," Draco looked at his daughter with a smile, "Valora, this is Perseus, a demigod. Son of Zeus."

Perseus nodded, "Hi. We need to get going," he began to head back towards the entrance of the cave.

"Father," Valora did not move when her father began to follow Perseus, "I can't leave."

Draco looked at her, "What do you mean?"

She sighed, more tears coming to her eyes, "I can't leave the Underworld! Not unless Hades allows me to leave! I'm a prisoner here, father!"

He ran back to her, "Come, Valora, please come now."

"I can't," she cried, showing him the black, metal, shackle-like bracelets around her wrists.

The Honour Guard leader looked at her, sorrow and anguish in his eyes; he'd been waiting five years to be reunited with the only person he had left in his life, and now, the day he finds her, he finds out he cannot bring her home? No. He would not let this be.

"Valora, come with me...now," Draco held out his hands to her, "come home."

She cried, "He'll kill you!"

"Not if I kill him first," Perseus growled, "come with us. We haven't much time."

The young woman was hesitant, but she took her father's hand and the three of them ran out of the lair before anything else could befall them.

Draco let out a sigh of relief as they ran back towards where Io sat, her smile of joy when she saw them alive was wonderful, but then she let out a gasp of shock as a blade was forced through her. Perseus screamed as he saw Calibos toss Io over his head.

The creature laughed, "Now it's just you and me, demigod."

Draco turned to his daughter, "Go tend to Io."

Valora shook her head, "No."

"Go!" her father screamed, unsheathing his sword and running towards the monster with Perseus.

The young woman could not argue with her father, so she ran to the woman who had been injured, "Be still."

Io looked up at her, the crystalline eyes staring down at her were not familiar, but that commanding tone in her voice was, "You must be Draco's daughter, Valora."

Valora smiled, "Yes I am, try not to speak."

"VALORA!" Draco screamed as Calibos swung his sword around at the two women.

His daughter rolled Io out of the way, unsheathing her swords and blocking the creature's mishapen blade. Calibos laughed, "What is this? A woman knowing how to fight?"

The young woman sneered, "And kill, too!" she lunged for him, sweeping one of his large legs out from beneath his body and stabbing him in the chest, a loud snarl of pain releasing from the beast as he slashed at her, a large claw mark showing through the back of her robe, blood dripping through as she cried out in agony. Perseus ran, pulling her out of the way as he finished the creature off.

Draco inspected his daughter's injury, "You're not badly injured, it will heal fast."

She turned to him, "Father, please, it's only a scratch."

"Io," the father-daughter pair turned to watch as Perseus ran to Io's side.

"The-The eclipse...you haven't much time," she gasped, her body going limp.

"Perseus," Valora placed her hand on his shoulder, "you have to go."

Draco took her arm, "You're coming with us."

"_Not if I can help it_!" a loud voice boomed overhead.

Valora and Draco saw what seemed to be a nightmare; Perseus welled up in anger as the three pairs of eyes fell upon the God Hades.

Draco stepped in front of his daughter, "You took her from me five years ago without reason, I'm taking her back."

Hades chuckled hoarsely, "You think that a mere mortal like yourself can overpower me?"

Perseus growled, "I can."

"A demigod! Oh please!" the God laughed, a cough covering it, "I have dealt with you once before, I will deal with you again."

Valora felt her wrists burn with the fire of the Underworld, "AAAH!" she fell to her knees, looking up at her captor in pain and fury.

Draco looked from his daughter to the ruler of the Underworld, "STOP IT! TAKE ME INSTEAD!"

Hades stopped the torture and turned his full attention to the man who had spoken, "You would give up your freedom to release your daughter?"

Valora's blue gaze snapped to her father, "Father, no!"

"Yes I would," Draco ignored her, keeping his eyes on the God at all times.

"Hades leave my father be!" Valora stepped forward, coming face-to-face with him like she had done so many times over the past five years, "If Perseus does not defeat the Kraken I promise you that I shall never leave the Underworld. If he does, both my father and I go free. Do we have an agreement?" she held out her wrists, giving him the chance to think.

The God eyed her, "If he does not succeed, you must swear to rule the Underworld by my side, as my wife."

"Valora," Draco hastened, staring at Hades in raging anger.

"I swear it," she stated firmly, "now remove these shackles so that I may go."

"As you wish, my future Queen," Hades smirked, waving his hand over her arms so that the shackles disappeared into mist.

"We won't make it," Draco looked up at the sky, the eclipse had begun.

Suddenly, there was a loud whinny from the sky; the Pegasus had returned to help.

"Three of us can't fit on that one creature," Valora stated.

"We won't need to," Perseus smirked as they saw two more Pegasus land next to the other, "now, let's go win you your freedom and save Argos."


	3. Author's Plea

**OK I KNOW I'M NOT SUPPOSED TO POST THESE BUT I DIDN'T WANT TO KEEP MY READERS UNDER SO MUCH SUSPENSE! I'M TERRIBLY STUCK WITH WRITER'S BLOCK AND I COULD USE SOME HELP! ANYONE WHO'S GOT IDEAS PLEASE MESSAGE ME AND LET ME KNOW! MENTION AND CREDIT WILL BE GIVEN TO YOU! THANKS :)**


	4. Chapter 3

**AN: OK I know I haven't updated this story in a long time, and I apologize! But I got a huge case of writer's block with this story and I couldn't seem to get over it, but now I've just decided to get on with it and push through just as I always do :) Please review after reading!**

The sky above Argos was darkened by the large creature towering above it, screams from the townspeople filled her ears as Valora watched Perseus attack the Kraken with vigor. Her gaze turned to her father, who sat on the winged horse beside her; she knew that if Perseus won, Hades wouldn't keep his word. She was forever doomed to live in the Underworld, but she couldn't let her father know that.

"Father, shouldn't we help him?" she questioned, looking back up into the sky at Perseus.

Draco shook his head, "This is his battle."

Her eyes caught glimpse of something darting through the air: Furies. Hades. Her gaze turned hard, "I'm going to help him," she kicked her Pegasus into a gallop, taking off into the air.

"Valora! Valora come back!" her father's cries were drowned out by the roar of the monstrous Kraken, her eyes fixated on the three furies flying toward Perseus.

"Hades!" she withdrew her knives, jumping onto the back of one of the Furies, stabbing it's neck, her ears ringing from it's piercing cry. Suddenly, she was spiraling down toward the water, the dead Fury that she clung to breaking her fall as the warm ocean enveloped her, but it wasn't long before the weight of the creature pinned her to the sandy floor. She struggled against it, the desperate need for air burned her lungs, the salty water stung her eyes, and her body felt as if it were being crushed. She was going to die, and Hades would have his Queen. If she could cry beneath the water she would as she closed her eyes, a single thought passing through her mind as she opened her mouth, allowing the ocean in: _I love you, father_.

* * *

Draco had seen his daughter plummit into the sea, and fear swelled in his heart: she didn't surface. "Valora..." he glared up at the two Furies chasing after Perseus, "Down here you bastards!" he forced his Pegasus to take flight, leading the Furies away from Perseus and out above the empty ocean, "This is for my daughter!" he turned to face them, feeling talons tear at his chest, a whinny from the horse alerted him that he was no longer riding it, but hanging in the air, his only support taking the form of razor-sharp claws digging into his back.

The Fury carried him further from Argos, until he could no longer hear the cries of the people. He knew he was going to die, he knew that once Hades had him, he would have no need for his daughter. She could live a full and prosperous life, if she was still alive. "I love you, my daughter," he whispered to himself as he felt the air rush past his face, falling faster and faster to his watery grave, a smile on his face the entirety of his descent before crashing into the sea. Draco didn't know if he was dead or alive, but all he saw was darkness, and it comforted him to know that at long last, his daughter was free.

* * *

Perseus stood on the cliff, staring down at the water below: he'd seen Draco lead the Furies away, and he'd seen Valora fall, but he couldn't find either of them. They had to be alive, they just had to be.

"Perseus!" Io called to him, "We found Valora! Come quickly!"

A spark of hope twinged within him; if Valora was alive they could find Draco together. The earth beneath his feet seemed to be like air as he ran toward the shore of Argos, the young woman sprawled out on the white sand, "Move! Move!" he pushed his way through the growing crowd, kneeling beside her. Her golden hair was wet, coated with sand and plastered to her face, her lips were purple and her skin was pale. "Valora breathe, c'mon breathe for me." He pressed his hands against her chest, trying to force the water out of her lungs, "Breathe!"

Io placed a hand on his shoulder, "She's gone, Perseus," she could see the sadness in his eyes.

The young man looked up at him, "My father spared you, he brought you back. Why can't he do the same for her? For Draco?"

"Because she swore herself to Hades," the woman explained, "no matter what the outcome, her soul belongs to him."

Perseus growled, "Not if I can help it. We need to go back to the Underworld."

She shook her head, "Perseus you can't! They're gone!"

"No they're not! I'm going to save them and if you're not coming with me then I shall do it alone!" he mounted his Pegasus, staring down at her, "Are you coming with me, Io?"

The young woman looked down at the girl lying dead on the sand, "I will stay here with her, to make sure that she is well-tended when you succeed."

"I shall watch her," Andromeda stepped forward, "you go with Perseus, I will take care of Valora. She was a dear friend of mine when we were children, I owe her this."

Io turned to Perseus, extending her hand, "Help me on."

The demigod nodded, taking her hand and pulling her up, "Back to Hell we go," he kicked the horse into flight, and for the first time, he felt as if he were truly racing time itself.

* * *

Valora felt the weight of her shackles once more, the heat of Hades' realm was thick with the rot of death, but now she had to grow accustomed to it.

"So, my Queen, do you not like your new home?" Hades walked forward, his robes dragging along the ground.

Her gaze was cold, "I will never, be your Queen."

He chuckled, "Oh, but you are, and in the process, allowed me to acquire another prize," he gestured toward the window, where she could overlook the Sea of Souls.

Valora looked at him, then the window, before walking towards it, her eyes searching for what he meant, until she found it, "No, please dear Gods don't let this be true!" her knees gave out, her body falling against the cold ground as her eyes filled with tears and her mouth elicited cries of agony: her father's face was amongst the dead. "Why? Why did you do this to me? WHY!" her sobs filled the hallowed abyss of the Underworld, and she no longer cared that Hades was watching, her heart was empty.

"I'm sorry my dear, but I had no other choice," he spoke with as much insinscerity as ever, his eyes glowing red with victory: she was his.

The young woman looked up at him through misted eyes, "I swear to you, no matter how many years go by you will _never_ touch this body." She stood, running past him to hide someplace where he could not find her, someplace deep beneath his dark castle. The last shred of hope she'd had was lost; now she was truly dead.


End file.
